Artists

Artists

Freddie McKay

Born: 1947
St. Catherine,Jamaica
Died: Nov 19, 1986
Rocksteady singer Freddie McKay had a few hits in the ’60s (one of which was miscredited to someone else!), recorded with the Soul Defenders, among other studio groups, and worked with Jamaica’s top reggae producers Duke Reid, Coxsone Dodd, and Prince Buster. He went on to record for the Studio One
and Treasure Isle labels, working with studio bands ‘the Revolutionaires’ and ‘the Soul Defenders’, with whom McKay cut ‘Picture on the Wall’ his biggest hit. According to the compilation Wake Up Jamaica, another one of McKay’s hits, ‘Love Is a Treasure,’ was initially released in the late ’60s as a Treasure Isle single. The song’s reissue in the early ’70s got the performer wrong again, this time listing Tommy McCook’s All Stars. Eventually, the record was set straight and a few of Freddie’s singles remained perennial favorites on ska and rocksteady compilations decades later.
In 1986 Freddie died of a heart attack.